All Or Nothing
by SaturnNights
Summary: Shadow finally listens to his heart and decides to reveal his love to the only one who can make him feel. But how will she react when she herself, loves another?
1. Emotion

**Hello everyone. Once again an idea has struck and as always I had to write it. I thank you all for checking this out and I hope you like it.**

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic The Hedgehog or any of the characters, they are owned by Sega and Sonic Team._

* * *

He had waited so long.

Shadow The Hedgehog was not the type to let people in so easily, let alone fall in love.

But to him, she was different.

Amy Rose saw something in him that no one else had.

For the longest time, everyone thought of him as a weapon, to the point where even he started to believe it was so.

But when she looked at him, she saw a normal hedgehog, like anyone else.

She made him feel different, in a good way.

Unfortunately for him, the very person he opened his heart to also was in love with another.

Shadow and Amy would hang out constantly, he would always enjoy her company.

But like clockwork, she would always mention Sonic or space out thinking of him.

 _"How could she not know?" Shadow thought._

At this point, Sonic had rejected her hundreds of times, yet she still persisted on making him hers.

Shadow just couldn't understand. Was it a crush? Was it obsession? What was it?

After so long, it was getting old and finally, one day, he decided to make his feelings known.

As Shadow walked to her house, he started to reminisce about the moments they had.

Their first meeting when Amy hugged him, albeit thinking he was Sonic, her heart touching speech on the space colony and of course, the time she helped him in pursuit of his past.

He had never really thanked her for what she had done but what he was about to tell her would speak for itself.

Shadow knocked on the door, an excited Amy opening it and tackling him into a hug.

"Shadow, I'm so glad you're here!" Amy said, with a smile.

"As am I, Rose." Shadow said.

Amy picked herself up off of him and helped him up.

"Come on in, I've got something to tell you." Amy told him.

"I have something to tell you too Rose." Shadow said.

Entering her home, Shadow took a seat on her couch, awaiting the pink hedgehog to tell him what she was so excited about.

"I'm so glad you decided to come today." Amy said.

"Anyways, Shadow, you know how close we are, right?" Amy asked.

Shadow's interest had already been high but now it reached its peak.

"Yes, Rose, that's actually what I wanted to talk to you about." He started, but never got to finish as Amy interrupted him.

"Great, I was wondering if you could help me with Sonic." Amy told him.

Shadow's thoughts stopped in their tracks, a feeling of disappointment overshadowing everything else inside.

"How would I be of any help?" Shadow questioned.

"Well, you've had more interaction with him than I have and you know me so well, I was wondering if you could convince him to go out with me." Amy explained to him.

At that moment, he was crushed.

He knew he didn't really have much of a chance, but it stung all the same.

He stood up from the couch, walking towards the door.

"Shadow?" Amy said.

"No." Shadow simply said.

Amy was a little confused with his response.

"No?" She questioned.

"Rose, why do you do this to yourself?" Shadow asked her.

"What do you mean?" Amy asked.

"He's turned you away so many times, he's hurt you emotionally, which you don't deserve, why do you continue to chase him?!" Shadow questioned, his voice going higher.

Amy looked at him as if he were crazy.

"Because I love him." Amy said.

"Is it really love?" Shadow asked.

Amy pondered it for a second, trying to reason in her mind what Sonic was to her.

"Why are you asking me this?" Amy retorted.

"He's mistreated you for so long, I couldn't just stand by any longer while you throw yourself at him, you mean too much to me to cause yourself so much pain." Shadow started to confess.

"You really care that much?" Amy asked.

"No." Shadow said.

He walked towards her, wrapping his arms around her.

"I care even more." He says.

With that said, using all the confidence he had, he kissed her.

Amy's eyes remained wide open for the first few seconds, but she quickly melted into the kiss, shutting her eyes from the feeling of bliss.

After a few more seconds, Amy broke the kiss, slightly pushing him away.

 _"No, I can't betray Sonic like this." She thought._

But on the other hand, Shadow had always been there for her.

He was loyal, she could depend on him for anything at anytime and she knew his feelings were true.

"Shadow, I'm… I'm sorry, I just can't." Amy told him, not even looking at him.

That was it, the fragile state of his heart, hit with a final disturbance.

Shadow tried to say something, but the words just wouldn't come out.

Instead, he did the only thing he could do.

Leave.


	2. Reaching Out

**Hello everyone. Just wanted to give a quick shout out to all you viewers, thank you all so much and I've hoped you liked it so far.**

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic The Hedgehog or any of the characters, they are owned by Sega and Sonic Team._

* * *

Shadow never went home that day.

From the day to the time the sun set, all the way to midnight, all Shadow would do, was just keep walking.

He walked, replaying the scene of him and Amy in his mind, over and over and over again.

He wished he could imagine a different outcome, but her reaction was so ingrained in his memory, he couldn't even think of one.

As he continued wandering through the streets of the city, he felt a small drop of rain fall onto his quills.

Sure enough a moment later the rain started to pour down.

Shadow sighed and used his speed to get back home as quickly as he could.

As Shadow made it home, he quickly spun around to dry himself off a bit.

 _"Rouge must be home." Shadow thought, noticing that the lights were on._

He had been living with Rouge due to them sharing missions constantly.

It made things convenient enough, Rouge had barely been home anyway since she spent so much of her time with Knuckles.

Shadow entered, immediately heading for his room to try and sleep it all off.

"Freeze." Rouge commanded.

Shadow hung his head as he sighed and went back down the stairs to see Rouge.

"Where have you been?" Rouge asked him.

"I just went out for a walk." Shadow said.

"For over twelve hours?" Rouge said, not believing him.

"Yeah." Shadow said, starting to walk away.

That's when Rouge really noticed him.

Shadow didn't have the usual scowl on his face or even his resting look of annoyance.

 _"He actually looks legitimately sad." Rouge thought._

"Shadow, wait." Rouge spoke up.

"What's going on with you?" Rouge asked.

"Nothing, it's just been a long day." Shadow said.

 _"Please, just let me sleep." Shadow thought._

"What happened, did the ultimate life form humiliate himself?" Rouge joked, with a little laugh.

Shadow's gaze remained towards the floor, not answering.

"Hey I'm just messing with ya, seriously, what happened?" Rouge asked.

Still no answer.

Rouge began to grow concerned as he just stood there.

"Shadow, you're scaring me, what's wrong?" Rouge asked, with worry.

Shadow just couldn't get the words out, he couldn't tell her what had happened.

Instead, he walked over to her, wrapping his arms around her, bringing her into an embrace.

Rouge just remained there, shocked at the gesture she was receiving.

 _"Okay, something must be seriously wrong with him." Rouge thought._

Shadow let go and started to walk away before Rouge spoke up again.

"Wait, I know you're tired but, I ordered dinner and I know you must be hungry at this point, you gotta eat something." Rouge pointed out.

Shadow sighed and nodded yes, heading to the kitchen.

Shadow heated up the food in the microwave, waiting at the table for it to finish, Rouge joining him.

Suddenly, Rouge's phone went off.

"Who's texting you at this hour?" Shadow asked.

"Probably Knuckles." Rouge said.

Looking at her phone, she saw the name, smiling in surprise.

"Oh, it's Amy, I wonder what she's been up to." Rouge said.

Once again she looked at Shadow, noticing the small changes when she mentioned her name.

His mouth quivered, almost forming a frown and his stature as well as his overall look, suddenly changed.

He looked like he was gonna be sick.

"It's Amy isn't it?" Rouge said.

"What do you mean?" Shadow asked.

"As soon as I mentioned her, you got that look on your face again, she did something, didn't she?" Rouge figured.

"What, did she obsess over blue boy again or hug you thinking you were him again?" Rouge asked humorously.

"Just drop it Rouge." Shadow plead.

"No way, I'm getting to the bottom of this, what did she do?" Rouge asked.

"Nothing, now drop it." Shadow said, his tone growing more serious.

"What happened?" Rouge asked.

"I said drop it!" Shadow snapped.

 _"There's the Shadow we know and love." Rouge thought._

"Fine, I'll just ask her." Rouge said.

Shadow went to speak up but he had nothing to say to that.

He knew there was no way out of this, sighing, he gave in.

"If I tell you, promise me this stays between us." Shadow told her.

"I promise." Rouge said.

"Well, I went to visit Rose today, I had something I needed to get off my chest." Shadow started.

Rouge nodded, wanting him to continue.

"I had hopes that… she would understand, but like you said, she started to obsess over Sonic again and actually asked for my help in her pursuit." Shadow told her.

Rouge hung on every word, wondering where this was going.

"At that point I couldn't take it anymore, I told her the truth about how I hated the way he treats her and I asked her why she was so determined to make him hers." Shadow told her.

Rouge just smirked a little.

"Why do you care, it's not like you have feelings for her, right?" Rouge asked.

Shadow didn't speak, instead looking her in the eyes for the first time that night.

Rouge's eyes went wide in shock when she finally understood.

"Wait... you do have feelings for her." Rouge said, in disbelief.

She never could have even imagined that the hedgehog could have feelings for anyone.

"Yeah." Shadow said.

"Oh." Was all Rouge could say.

"After I did that, I made it clear how I felt about her." Shadow said.

Rouge grinned.

"You made out with her, Shadow, I never knew you had it in you." Rouge said with a grin, patting him on the back.

"So when's the wedding?" Rouge asked, half jokingly.

"I call maid of honor." Rouge claimed.

Rouge shut up when Shadow gave her an unamused look.

"She didn't feel the same way." Shadow said.

Rouge's expression went from one of joy to sympathy and regret.

She didn't mean to make light of things, she just wasn't used to her friend being so open, so Mobian.

"At first it seemed like she accepted me, like maybe there was a chance, but then… she broke the kiss, she said she was sorry, but that she couldn't do it." Shadow told her.

Rouge put a hand on his shoulder, trying to give some sort of comfort.

"It's alright, I knew I had no chance anyway, she has her heart set on Sonic and I have to accept that." Shadow said, his voice straining a bit.

Rouge couldn't even talk, what could she say at a moment like this?

Shadow sighed and stepped away.

"I think I'm just gonna pass on dinner, I'll see you in the morning." Shadow said, heading upstairs to his room.

Shadow shut the door behind him, slipping into his bed, shutting his eyes, hoping for a dreamless sleep that night.

As he drifted off, his last thoughts were of Amy, smiling and laughing as she sat beside him before slowly fading away.

With what he had done, it would never be the same.

She could never look at him the same way again and she probably would keep away in fear that Sonic would keep his distance from her.

Still, even through all this, he would gladly comply for her sake.

It may have hurt more than anything he had ever experienced, but he had cared for her more than anything and if he had to give up seeing her, just for her well being, he would.

He had chosen her happiness over himself.


	3. Apologize

**Well, Shadow's heartache has been shown, now let's conclude this, with Amy's side.**

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic The Hedgehog or any of the characters, they are owned by Sega and Sonic Team._

* * *

 **4 Months Later.**

Amy bid Cream and Vanilla goodbye as she headed home.

In the time that passed, things had been going great for Amy.

With a new job, working with Cream and Vanilla at the bakery and Sonic finally acknowledging her, everything seemed to be looking up.

At least, that's how she thought it would be.

Amy entered her home, taking a seat on the couch to think.

For the past month a feeling of discomfort had lodged itself in the back of her mind.

No matter what she did to distract herself or drown it out, it continued to persist.

She had a feeling of regret that she couldn't get rid of and she knew exactly why.

The situation with Shadow.

She felt she had ended things poorly, the look on his face that day stayed with her even then.

Most of all, she missed him.

The way he would visit her almost everyday just to check up on her or the way he comforted her when she needed it most.

 _"I took him for granted." She thought._

She looked at the clock.

 _"7 O'clock." She thought._

She picked up her phone, dialing up Sonic.

"Hello." Sonic answered.

"Hey Sonic, I was wondering if you wanted to hang out tonight." Amy says.

"Sorry, I can't, I promised to hang out with some friends tonight, maybe some other time, okay?" Sonic tells her.

"Sure." Amy says, disappointed.

Sonic hangs up and Amy starts to put her phone in her pocket before thinking again.

She went through her contacts, clicking on Rouge.

"Hey Amy, I'm sorry, Shadow's not here right now." Rouge tells her.

"Actually I was calling for you, I was wondering if you wanted to hang out tonight." Amy says.

"Sure, meet me at the old café?" Rouge said.

"I'll be there." Amy says.

* * *

 **At The Café.**

Rouge and Amy placed their orders and sat down at a table in the back.

"So, what's up, aside from all those short calls, I haven't heard from you in so long?" Rouge asked.

Amy sighed.

For the past few months she had been trying to get in touch with Shadow, stopping by the house every couple of days and calling Rouge to check in.

"I've been doing fine, Cream and Vanilla are great to work with and I meet a lot of nice people." Amy said, trying to keep a smile.

Unlucky for her, Rouge saw right through it.

"You really do miss him, don't you?" Rouge questioned.

Amy stopped pretending and spoke up.

"Every day." She said.

The waitress placed their drinks down and they thanked her.

"Rouge, what happened, where is he?" Amy plead.

Rouge sighed, taking a sip of her coffee and told her the truth.

"After that day, he changed." Rouge started.

"At first I thought he was just acting like himself, introverted and moody, but after a few days, we barely saw each other, we barely spoke and soon enough, he stopped talking altogether." Rouge continued.

Amy listened carefully, hanging on every word.

"A couple more days passed and he started appearing less and less, he buried himself in his work, taking any mission from the agency he could get, half the time I don't even know where he is." Rouge admitted.

Amy looked down, staring at her drink as thoughts of that day came flooding back.

Breaking her thoughts, the bell on the door rang as customers walked in.

Amy awakening from her daydream, looked up to see a familiar face.

Rouge, out of curiosity, turned to see what she was staring at.

Lo and behold, it was Sonic The Hedgehog.

Sonic was smiling as he had his arms wrapped around two girls, who were flirting with him.

Rouge turned back, looking at the frowning Amy.

"I'm so sorry, Amy." Rouge apologized.

"It's fine, it's not your fault." Amy says.

"Besides, we aren't dating, he said he wasn't interested in a relationship." Amy said, still having hints of sadness in her voice.

It was true, when Sonic had finally acknowledged her, he made it clear that he wasn't interested in a relationship, at least, not with her.

She tried but there was no convincing him, she knew he wasn't a bad guy, just a guy who wasn't going to slow down.

As time passed, the more and more the mistake weighed on her.

She had given up the one person who understood her, who cared for her and loved her for who she was, for someone who wouldn't even give her the time of day over his fan girls.

"Rouge, do you have any idea where he is now?" Amy asked.

Rouge took notice of the tears welling up in her eyes.

"I'm not sure, last I heard, he took a mission in Central City." Rouge said.

Amy sighed, but Rouge spoke up again.

"But, there is one place he might be, it's a small rundown shop on the north edge of town, he goes there to relax when Knuckles and I are at the house." Rouge says.

Amy looks up at her, with hopeful eyes.

She hugs Rouge and thanks her, rushing out the door into the city.

* * *

 **Later.**

Amy had made it, seeing the old burned down shop in all its glory.

Slowly approaching, she carefully made her way in.

Upon entering, she was amazed at how great it looked, on the outside it presented itself as dim and menacing, but on the inside it was amazing.

 _"Kind of like Shadow." Amy thought, with a giggle._

As she looked around, she admired the reconstruction Shadow had done.

"Rose?" A voice called out from the dark.

Amy jumped back in surprise.

She took a breath, trying to slow down her heartbeat.

But with him in the room, she would find that harder than she thought.

"What are you doing here?" He asked.

"I-I, came to see you." She stutters.

Shadow remained in the dark, not knowing how to feel.

"I missed you." She says.

Shadow sighs, deciding to walk out into the light.

Amy gasps at what she sees before her.

Shadow stood there, wounds all over his body, his fur faded and dulled and his eyes, so tired and worn.

Amy immediately hugged him, never wanting to let go.

"I'm sorry." She said, through her sobs.

"Rose." Shadow said, in surprise.

"Shadow, what happened to you?" She asked.

"I've just been working more, that's all." Shadow said.

"It's not just that, ever since that day, it's like you just left, why?" Amy asked.

"I just needed time, I shouldn't have done anything and I needed time to face it." Shadow told her.

"I was wrong." Amy said.

Shadow looked at her in confusion.

"I was wrong about Sonic, but most of all, I was wrong about you." She admitted.

Shadow was still confused.

"I thought once Sonic got to know me, things would finally be perfect, but I was wrong, I already had someone to make everything perfect and I turned them away because I was so driven to someone who didn't even care!" Amy started growing more emotional.

"You were always there for me and I didn't even notice until you weren't there, Shadow, please, don't go, please come back!" She says, as she breaks down crying.

Shadow's heart starts aching, seeing her like this, he holds her closer.

"I'm not going anywhere, Rose." Shadow whispers.

"Shadow, I want you with me, I need you in my life more than anything." Amy whispers back.

Shadow picks her up and sets her down on the couch to rest.

"Shadow, wait." She says, softly.

"Yes, Rose?" He says.

Amy sits up, wrapping her arms around him to support herself to stand, and kisses him.

Shadow kisses back, the two of them feeling the way they did all that time ago.

As they break the kiss, Amy rests her head against his chest.

"Shadow, will you be mine?" Amy asks.

Shadow looks at her, knowing she's being genuine, but still hurting from the past.

But deep down, he knew he could never say no to her.

"Yes." Shadow said.

The two cuddled up on the couch, falling asleep in each other's arms.

Shadow looked at Rose one last time before drifting off to sleep.

In time, his heart would fully heal, his trust would be restored and he would return home, this time, for someone there, waiting for him.


End file.
